I had seen her at the gym, the gym at the hotel, almost empty. She was there when I got there; I noticed her first; she was running on a treadmill looking out over the beach. White shorts, pink top, ponytail, matching hair scrunchie. She looked like something out of an aerobics class from the 1980’s.

If there were more units to choose from, I would not have chosen the treadmill left of her. I would have given her more space, another window overlooking the ocean, but fate suggested otherwise. I was wearing deodorant, and hope it smelled alright… she smelled very good. She wasn’t sweating, but her body was hot, and it released a pheromone that made me dizzy with attraction.

I started my workout running at speed 8.5, a seven-minute mile, for around ten minutes. Minute two, and I’m off to a good start on some vision of sandy beaches in front of me with this girl right next to me. We were running on the beach together, only with less clothes and maybe a drink in our hands. Rum drinks.

She was running at speed 6.5, a ten-minute mile, and had been going for five minutes before I started. Minute seven, and I’m kicking my own ass on the treadmill, my heart rate a steady 155. She watches me run, I see her head move and stay, her eyes on something in my direction. I looked over at her and she looked up at me and then off towards the beach again, smiling and embarrassed.

Minute nine, and I began running faster, hyperbolic. She noticed, astonished, as minute fifteen on her clock dragged on in comparison. Minute ten, I hit the “cool down” button and began my rapid deceleration into a fast walk. I stepped off the machine before the clock dropped to zero and came back with a wetnap to wipe off my sweat. She watched me go.

I headed to the weight machines on the other side of the small facility, and turned back to see her slowly walking on the treadmill. She had a bounce in her step I could not describe.

I exercised my biceps, deltoids, abdominals and pectorals with a three-round circuit of pushups, sit-ups, presses and rows. I think she went looking for me; I wasn’t exactly sure, but within a few minutes, I could see her walking around the gym through the mirror in front of me. My eyes caught hers again and she came over to the weight room. She smiled, and I crunched my last ab.

She didn’t leave, but instead waited by the water cooler, wiping away the sweat from her brow and her body. She looked really great, and I felt bad breaking up her show with the towel, but I was thirsty.

“Sorry,” I reach for a paper cup right in front of her and begin to fill it up.

“It’s ok, you could use it.”

I smile, “Yeah? You think so?”

“Yeah, well, no. I mean, you really push it.”

“Yeah, I get the best results that way. Plus this weather, I love it.”

She was impressed by my enthusiasm. “Yeah this is really great, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” We both looked out at the beach. “I’m Alex.”

“I’m Kara,” she smiled and put out her hand. I shook it with a strong hot grip.

“Nice to meet you, Kara.”

“You too. How long have you been here?”

We stood and talked for about five minutes; nobody else was in the gym to overhear, so time moved casually between us. It was a good talk.

“What were you going to do later?” I didn’t want to leave without the chance of seeing her again.

“My friends and I will probably stay on the resort tonight.”

“Do you know the Coconut Cove?” It was the outdoor bar on the residential side of the resort.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be out there after dinner, we should check it out.”

“Sure, we’ll be out there after 9pm.”

“I’ll see you then, Kara.” She made for the door and gave me a smile before taking off.

Several hours later, I’m making my way down to the Coconut Cove; down to the stone-tile walkways, over a couple coastal turnarounds by foot, five minutes away from the resort glitz and glam, exotic women yelping and retired rich men ranting over hard drinks and sports. I’m dressed casual for 9pm in 90-degree weather: swimsuit and tight blue designer t-shirt from Modern Amusement, Ray Ban sunglasses, and a thin leather necklace hanging loosely around my neck.

She was already there, Kara, with two other girls and a guy. They were dressed a little more proper, with polo shirts and shorts, but still casual.

“So that’s what you wear to dinner?” She spotted me first and comfortably spoke over her friends to grab my attention. People looked in my direction, I smiled, she smiled, and her girlfriends smiled. The guy was indifferent.

“When you live on the beach, you wear whatever you want to dinner.” I didn’t exactly know what to say, but I had to say something.

“Everyone, this is Alex. Alex, this is Kim, Chloe, and Ryan.” I said my hellos and pulled up a chair around the corner closest to Kara and Ryan, separating them, closing the gap in our group around the bar.

“What are you guys drinking tonight?” Each of them had 16-ounce cups of different colored drinks; coconut rims and parasol hats, melons and lemons and a few leaves of mint. “Alright, next round is on me.” And from there the ice was broken. We talked about college days and vacation spots, best food found on the island. I was feeling my confidence boom.

“Kara told me you met at the gym here,” Chloe started, “how do you pick somebody up at the gym?”

“I didn’t really pick you up, did I?” I asked Kara as if I’d known her my whole life.

“No, not really.” She smiled.

“Not really?” Chloe laughs as she presses on.

“Well, there was nobody else in the gym.”

“There were only two treadmills, and she was using one of them, so it kind of just happened.”

“Yeah, I bet it did.” She looked drunk.

“This little gym here has everything I need to get a good workout.”

“Not the best workout,” Kara said, sipping her rum drink through the straw, “I can think of a better workout.”

“Yeah, like what?”

“Buy her a couple drinks and she’ll show you!” Ryan cracked wise to which I smiled and all the girls gave us a dirty look. Kara played with her drink, sort of smiling, twirling the straw around with her tongue. Chloe was watching my reaction as I lost track of my face and my jaw, gawking at Kara. I notice Chloe and compose myself quickly while she laughs into her glass and takes a big gulp.

After a fourth round of drinks, the bartender, Charlesworth, gave us all a round of Patron on the house before closing the shop. Charlesworth knows me and my family, and he knows what I am doing with these people tonight. Good old Charlesworth, he’s like my sidekick on the island.

“Hey, let’s go to the beach,” I suggested to mixed replies.

“I think we’re going to go back to the hotel room,” said Ryan. Kim didn’t share his sympathies, but left with him anyway.

“Let’s go.” Kara said to me with beautiful hazel eyes. She was excited, and Chloe looked off put, unsure of what to make of all this.

“Ok, give me a sec, I have to use the shack,” and I leave them alone to talk. Charlesworth had left by this point. He unfortunately did not leave a bottle of scrap around, like he occasionally does.

“What are we going to’ do?”

“I don’t know, this guy is really great.”

“Yeah, I like him too.”

“You’re just saying that because he’s hot.”

“Yeah well, what’s your excuse?”

Kara, thinking for a second, “He’s more than that.”

“Want me to leave you guys alone?”

“No, I don’t know this guy, anything could happen.”

I washed my face and fixed my hair and quickly returned to hearing Kara say those last three words. I am drunk.

“Yeah, I like the attitude, anything can happen. Come on, I know the way…” and we made our way to the beach, a brief pathway through brush and ground lamps, guiding the way to tactful breakers on quiet sands. I’m walking behind Kara; my hands are at her waist as I guide her through the dark. Chloe is behind me; her hands are on my shoulders.

Kara stopped and I walked into her, bringing our bodies together. Chloe walked into me from behind, and yelped a surprised yelp that left us all laughing in place. Walking onward, I looked back at Chloe who was smiling, walking with a strut. Her body was fit and her outfit was revealing.

The beach is cared for by the resort staff. Every night they arrange the chaise lounge chairs with blue pillow cushions along the beach in a crescent formation. Tiki torches light up sections of the beach for reference, shining a path towards the security patrol shed at the edge of the resort.

We sat on the dry sand a few paces from the breaking water, and we could clearly see the water in the reflection of the stars. We sat there for a couple minutes, listening to the waves and watching the sky, myself, Kara and Chloe to the right of me. We sat close, my right side brushing up to Kara’s left.

I snuck a kiss on her cheek while she waxed a wide open expression at the sky. She turned to me, her expression changing more serious, and came at me with a kiss on the lips. Soft, warm, wet, talented, we enjoyed it a half-second too long; Chloe had noticed and made us aware by shifting around. She was not amused.

“I should go,” started Chloe.

“No, Chloe, stay!”

“Yeah, stay, I’m sorry, I got a little carried away.”

“I know…”

“Hold on a second!” Kara loudly cuts into the awkward air and begins to whisper into Chloe’s ear. Chloe looks at Kara squarely, and they nod to each other. Then all of a sudden, they kiss each other.

It looked like a first time for the two of them because what started as a peck had snowballed into more. But then again, I was pretty drunk, and in that state I believed more than I saw.

“Wait, wait! What’s the hell is going on?” I had to say something.

“What? Is something wrong?” Chloe crawled over Kara to tell me that face to face in a sultry voice, and immediately followed it with a kiss. She had a strong kiss, more aggressive than Kara’s, maybe brought on by all the awkward sexual chemistry we had. I looked over at Kara when Chloe withdrew, almost worried she would have a problem with what just happened. When she looked back at me she smiled. She wanted this to happen, and in that moment I realize we could have anything we wanted.

When the security patrol saw us fornicating on the beach, they asked us to go home, or in this case, back to our rooms. I invited them back to my place, and finished what we started; a chance encounter gone perfect (better than perfect), and making the most out of a tropical island paradise.

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Today I only hope my cough subsides before my forehead burns off all the sun-bathed layers of sensitive skin I destroyed. God it burns, aloe does nothing. We won’t know just yet, because my attention is now drawn to the beach and the ocean beyond it. The image is quite a spectacle. My brother notes, “St. John is practically hidden now” and we watch from our window the gray fog covering the surrounding islands. Unsure of its direction, a rainbow shines on my left. The water in the distance begins to show signs of activity. The clouds grow thicker and darker. There was a spread of small sailboats out there in the water, and now they seem hidden in the storm. People in the resort below begin to hustle and shuffle now, knowing full well that it”s about to downpour soon.

I’m watching this from the patio; the wind is getting strong. These pages can’t really stay down, I need another hand to hold them as I write. Like an oncoming wave, the water shows the rain coming closer and closer, the pit-patter creating a white-colored gradient across the blue, clear blue ocean. Even now, rain is lightly sprinkling on me. The palm trees are really moving now. The people are running away, grabbing their things and heading indoors. The towel boys hustle from chair to chair, taking all the towels and bringing them to the covered bins. So much is done on the fly. The greatest image was the ocean water getting hit by the downpour. The water changing color, as if an epic entity was quickly approaching. It was beautiful.